Game Series: il linguaggio seriale nel mondo videoludico

Authors

  • Mattia Barra Università degli Studi di Salerno

Keywords:

Videogames, Games Studies, Videogames serialization, Game Series, Digital Games

Abstract

The field of videogames and game studies it’s a quiet recent matter in a research environment, and it’s based on the studying of a medium that’s multifaceted and in continuous evolution.

This paper wants to focus on the serialization processes in the videogames industry. At the beginning the concept of “serialization” in videogames referred only to the tie-inworks based on the TV series (Lost: Via Domus, C.S.I., 24) or movie sagas (The Godfather saga, Star Wars), or several sequels of the IP (Intellectual Property) software houses owned, as Super Mario, Assassin’s Creed and so on. Then, at a later time, the continual cross-media and trans-media operations (at first only pointed towards the storytelling) among movies, TV and videogames, generated borderline products. Specifically, it’s possible to find a multitude of video-ludic products released with the television formula of the “season” and “episodes”. This means that if in a first moment a videogame user had a complete story to play, with a beginning and an end, now he has to wait the release of new episodes of the game to continue his play. It’s the case of transmedia spin-off The Walking Dead, Season 1 and Season 2, The Wolf Among Us or the recent Life is Strange which, at present, has just one episode released of five announced. This new type of videogame narration, through the interactive using of the player, considers multiple endings that makes more interesting the development of this serial language.

 

Author Biography

Mattia Barra, Università degli Studi di Salerno

Mattia Barra, Laureato Magistrale, cum laude, in Teoria dei linguaggi e della comunicazione audiovisiva presso il Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Sociali e della Comunicazione dell’Università di Salerno con una Tesi di Laurea (in Sociologia degli audiovisivi sperimentali) dal titolo: Re-Vision/Re-Play: Il videogame come nuova forma di sperimentazione digitale. Appassionato di radio, cinema, tv, fumetti, videogames, new media e tecnologia. Ha collaborato con le cattedre di Sociologia degli audiovisivi sperimentali e media digitali presso l’Università degli Studi di Salerno. Membro del comitato di redazione della collana The Searchers, diretta dai prof. Alfonso Amendola e Luigi Frezza, per la casa editrice Area Blu. Redattore e autore per la rivista online di critica videoludica Deeplay.it.

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How to Cite

Barra, M. (2016). Game Series: il linguaggio seriale nel mondo videoludico. Mediascapes Journal, (7), 80–90. Retrieved from https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/13763

Issue

No. 7 (2016): Serialization Landscapes II. Tra letteratura, teatro e web

Section

Articles

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